Whoopi Goldberg Releases Comic Book She Wrote ‘25 Years Ago’ About Hero Who 'Embraces' Powers of Menopause
'The Change' was co-written by Goldberg and screenwriter Jaime Paglia and illustrated by Sunkanmi Akinboye
When it comes to comics, Whoopi Goldberg decided to be the change she wanted to see in the world.
During the July 9 episode of The View, the actress and TV personality, 68, announced that her comic book, The Change, is out now — and teased a bit about its unique protagonist, who she originally hoped to portray!
The Sister Act star told her co-hosts that she was inspired to write the book — which was co-written by screenwriter Jaime Paglia and illustrated by Sunkanmi Akinboye — so she would feel more represented in a medium she has always adored.
“I love comic books,” she said. “I’ve always loved comic books since I was a little kid. But none of the comic books seemed to speak to me, so I wrote my own.”
Goldberg, who recently published her memoir Bits & Pieces: My Mother, My Brother and Me, also revealed that she penned the comic book project “25 years ago — because I was in the midst of going through the change,” she said. “It’s about a woman who embraces the superpowers that she gains through menopause.”
After co-host Joy Behar asked exactly what superpowers the main character, Isabel Frost, possesses, Goldberg cited a scene from the book to explain. “She’s in the middle of an argument with her husband and he’s irritating the poo out of her,” she said.
Then, the husband begins to get hot because Frost is “basically cooking him,” Goldberg explained, adding that at that point in The Change, the hero “doesn’t know she has these powers.”
"She transfers her heat to him,” Sunny Hostin ventured, and Goldberg replied, “Well, she does what all good superheroes do: when you don’t stop talking, they move you.”
Related: Celebrities Who've Talked About Menopause
The Color Purple actress also explained how she decided upon Frost’s physical appearance. “So many superheroes have wonderful chests and magnificent bodies," Goldberg said. "She does not. She looks like a regular person."
"And she’s put on weight. And she’s funny,” she continued. “And I wanted to play her — I wrote her so I would have a superhero, but I aged out.”
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According to an official synopsis, The Change follows the journey of Frost, “a woman who has spent her life as wife, mother, grandmother — a life she feels isn’t all she had hoped for, with a husband who has grown in another direction.”
“With a background in computer science, Isabel is an amazing gamer who plays with people all over the country,” the synopsis continues. “With the help of her comic-loving grandson and irreverent best friend, she must learn to control her abilities and embrace her new identity as The Change —both the change of life AND her surprising and extraordinary superpowers.”
Whoopi Goldberg’s debut comic book, The Change, is available now, wherever books are sold.
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